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Acknowledgments Jack H. McCall Jr. First and foremost, my most profound thanks are due to the man who wrote these memoirs, Christopher S. Donner: first, for having taken the time and the emotional energy necessary, not that very long after war’s end, to record his experiences for posterity, and second, after many years of holding his memoirs purely for the use of his family and friends (with the exception of one copy provided to the Marine Corps’ historical division ) to make this exceptional manuscript available for publication. I trust that this book will do justice to his desire to let his experiences of war serve for the benefit of future generations. An equally deep measure of thanks is also due to another member of this remarkable family, the man once called “Toph” by his father, Dr. Christopher S. Donner III, who graciously and immensely helped by communicating with his father on family visits, reviewing the manuscript as it developed, sharing photographs from the family’s collection, and providing both his family’s history and enormous insights into his father’s prewar and postwar experiences . While the memoirs were very well written in their own right, the introduction and context would have been sadly lacking without the input and feedback of Dr. Donner. To both Christopher Donners, father and son, I express my boundless appreciation and gratitude. I must also recognize a debt of gratitude to several other marine veterans of the Ninth Defense Battalion whom I have gotten to know over the years, whose own stories parallel much of Chris Donner’s wartime experiences . At the top of the list are Donner’s “Able” Battery commander, Col. (Ret.) Henry H. Reichner Jr., and one of his subordinates (and one of the men who served on the grim burial detail of July 2, 1943), Joseph Pratl. xi Donner text.indb 11 3/28/12 10:35 AM Longtime chair and secretary-treasurer of the Ninth Defense and AAA Battalion Association, David Slater, performed yeoman service in helping to organize newsletters and annual reunions, including the “Fightin’ Ninth’s” reunion in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in fall 1999, at which I first met Major Donner in person. I also owe inestimable thanks to Professor Kurt Piehler of the University of Tennessee Department of History and Scot Danforth of the UT Press for reviewing the original manuscript, seconding my own estimation of its potential value to history, and making suggestions that ultimately led to my contacting the Kent State University Press; to Joyce Harrison, Mary Young, and the staff of the Kent State University Press for all of their assistance and enthusiasm in helping bring this work to a broader audience; to Kent State’s readers, Professor Emeritus John Hubbell (himself a 1950s-vintage member of Donner’s Eleventh Marines) and Steven Weingartner, from whose feedback and critiques this work benefited immeasurably; to Gina McNeely of Gina McNeely Picture Research for her exceptional skill and keen insights in combing the photographic records of NARA and the U.S. Marine Corps’ archives at Quantico, Virginia , for just the right photos to better illustrate this work; and to Erin Greb of Erin Greb Cartography for her superb assistance in preparing the maps that appear in this book. Last but not least, my love and thanks go to my wife, Jennifer AshleyMcCall , and my daughter, Margaret McCall, for their patience and good humor in giving up hours of family time and humoring me in my latenight and weekend quests as I hunched over maps, texts, photos, and the family computer in an effort to do full justice to the life and times of Chris Donner and his peers; to my mother, Patricia H. McCall, and my sister, Holly McCall; and to one of Major Donner’s peers and onetime subordinates , my late father and another veteran of the Ninth Defense Battalion, Jack H. McCall Sr. (former Corporal, 1922–97). xii  acknowledgments Donner text.indb 12 3/28/12 10:35 AM ...

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